Abstract
Frogs in urban areas may be susceptible to urban noise and light. We conducted a field survey to reveal the effects of urban noise and light on breeding site selection by Bufo japonicus formosus and Hyla japonica. We surveyed occurrences of breeding in B. japonicus formosus in 62 urban ponds, and in H. japonica in 69 urban ponds. We analysed the relationship between the occurrence of breeding and 10 environmental factors, including noise and illumination. Model selection by Akaike’s information criterion showed that the best model did not include noise, but did include illumination as a negative factor for both B. japonicus formosus and H. japonica. In addition, we conducted enclosure experiments to investigate the effects of urban noise and light on oviposition site selection by H. japonica. H. japonica pairs did not show significant preferences for ponds without artificial noise or light. Our results showed that the effects of artificial noise on breeding site selection and oviposition site selection by frogs in urban areas might be negligible, but that artificial light has a negative effect on breeding site selection.
